Article
Restaurants weigh levels of social responsibility
As the industry grows larger, brands rethink their commitments to local and international communities.
February 8, 2010 by Valerie Killifer — senior editor, NetWorld Alliance
When customers purchase coffee products at Jazzman's Café & Bakery, they support more than the Allentown, Pa.-based chain and its parent company, Retail Brand Group. Sales from the company's Noteworthy Coffees line support farming cooperatives and villages in New Guinea, El Salvador and Ethiopia, among others.
"A lot of our customers can't get out of the USA and so their lens (of the world) is through the coffee they drink, and the stories that we tell them sort of bridges the gap," said Retail Brand Group president Husein Kitabwalla.
The company's Noteworthy Coffees program was the start of what would become a significant social responsibility program developed by RBG toward the end of 2008.
The policy, called the Better Tomorrow Program, outlines and tracks social responsibility in three key areas: locally sourced foods, sustainable development in international agricultural communities, and a reduction in the company's environmental footprint. It also highlights the growing trend of the restaurant industry's emphasis on social responsibility through the support of agricultural sustainability, charitable programs and locally sourced products.
RBG's three-year strategic plan is the guiding principle behind monitoring and tracking the Better Tomorrow Program's success.
"We recognized it wasn't going to happen [on its own]. So, we made sure some of the actions and behaviors of our team were tied into performance measures so we could hold ourselves accountable for how we would accomplish those tasks," he said.
Social responsibility is one of the National Restaurant Association's four industry imperatives the group plans to improve over a five-year period. According to the association, restaurants will continue to pursue community and philanthropic involvement to help boost the bottom line.
For Kitabwalla, who is a Kenya native, the creation of RBG's plan has been personally rewarding.
"Having lived firsthand the vicious cycle of survival and what wags the tail, so to speak, I can be a catalyst for shepherding some of these practices and behaviors, and making a little bit of a difference," he said. "Basic things like water and electricity were a challenge for us. The water was turned off twice a week by zones, which led to other problems."
Getting started
It's almost impossible to find a brand these days that doesn't have some sort of social responsibility policy – whether it involves a recycling program, a charitable partnership or international support.
And in order to implement a strong program, concepts must revise what they want to be while moving forward, and rebrand according to their social responsibility message.
"The best companies do that in some subtle ways," said Kate Edwards, founder of Kate Edwards Consulting LLC. "The idea of having a social conscience in your business plan is both popular and sensible. Whether it is in terms of developing a positive work environment or being more eco-conscious, many more restaurateurs are incorporating responsibility into both their concept as well as mission and core values."
When first developing its social responsibility platform, RBG looked at what steps could be immediately taken – such as purchasing supplies from local farmers, investing proceeds from its coffee beans back into the supplying farms, and purchasing energy-efficient equipment.
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The company also partnered with its campus division to understand what their social responsibility strategies were at the university level.
"Students do form a large part of our customer base today and it's an important market for us to keep our eye on," Kitabwalla said.
In addition to a company's current and future customer base, engaging employees in the social responsibility effort also makes good business sense.
"It gives the employee something larger to embrace and can also influence the customer experience of business as well," Edwards said. "In New York City, there has been a trend of employees engaging in class-action lawsuits against their employers for unfair work rules, hourly wage disputes and the unlawful distribution of tips. The best outcome is a holistic approach to food, service and management that will in the long run effect your customers' satisfaction and belief in your brand."
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